MALIA’S POV
“What?” I tried to withdraw my hand from his but my futile attempt laughed back at my face. “The plan was to escort you to a function” I added.
“I told you that so you will come with me, I know you won’t if I told you the truth” He said, looking down at our intertwined hand rather than my face.
“And do tell me, what that truth is” I arched my brows suddenly feeling very annoyed about the whole thing.
“The truth….” He hesitated a bit, glaring at a corner in the beautifully decorated hall. “Is that I adore you….”
“I adore you too. We are friends, aren’t we? As far as I am concerned there is adoration between friends” I cut him off immediately, not liking the path the conversation was headed.
“No, not that. We are friends yes, but can be something more. I’ve had my eyes on you from the moment you came into this Park. You’re like a beautiful magnet, and I can’t help being attracted to you.
I adore your confidence, your carriage was the first thing that got me hooked on the first day.”
“Hold on Ronan, get it together first and then keep it to yourself. I don’t desire to know all of these now, what I want to know is why I am here” The frown on my face deepened. I should have known it would come to this at some point. I should have figured that out.
He scratched his nape, eyes looking everywhere else but my face. “You are here because I had this made solely for you.”
“I am still in the dark, and that single detail is making me very mad, you either explain to me clearly why I am here or I walk out on you” I attempt to free my hands and this time, I succeeded.
“Isn’t it obvious Malia? Isn’t it apparent to you from the first day we met that I want you, that I love you, Malia? At first, I just wanted to keep it to myself, hoping with time that the feelings would go away, but with each passing day, it only intensified and I realized that the only reason to free myself from it’s wrench was by telling you” He looked around as if the ornament will serve as a source of motivation.
“I love you Malia and I promise to adore and and worship you for the rest of my life” he held my hand again.
I swallowed deeply, my throat suddenly feeling very patchy and my knees wobbly. I expected this from the start of this conversation but why was I suddenly feeling less confident than I was? Why was I allowing him gaze at me like I held in my eyes the most important thing he possessed and most importantly, why was I staring at him that way too? Wasn’t I supposed to repel, to get the hell out of here?
“I am not going to ask you to give me a response now. You can take your time, I will wait no matter how long”
I expected him to at least end it after that but instead, he continued to inch closer and just like last evening, I could not stop him even though the fire burning in my heart was enough to.
Something was alluring about his eyes that the moment you stared into them, the rest of the action that follows afterward couldn’t be helped.
I wanted to speak, to tell him just how much I didn’t appreciate what he was about to do, but It was as if my mouth had developed a mind of its own and this mouth as my bad luck may have it, was mute.
“No” I don’t know where that voice came from but I was damn glad that it did because Ronan paused and then slowly shifted.
“I am so sorry about that, I shouldn’t have done that, I just got carried away” He scratched the back of his head while allowing it to hang low.
“You…. should take me back home. I don’t want to remain here any longer” I cleared my throat and looked away from him, in an attempt to clear the awkward air.
“Malia I….”
“No” I backed away, putting my hand in front of me. “No, please, just take me back home. Give me time to think through all of these. This is just too much for me to take in.” I responded honestly and I watched his shoulder slump.
Thankfully he didn’t press further and just walked out of the building. I followed behind him, my heart filled with too many thoughts.
He loves me? How do I even begin to react to that? This was all messed up.
I slipped into the car right after he did and the entire ride back to the palace was enveloped in deep silence except for the car radio humming in the background. Heck, even the driver could sense something had changed between us and I didn’t know if it was just me but he was eager to drop us off before it got to him.
I didn’t wait for the car park before I jumped out of it, I didn’t want to risk him escort me to my room like he did yesterday. I just couldn’t stand being close to him. I needed time away from him to clear my head.
But as my luck would have it, the moment we rolled into the parking lot, another car did and in it, no one else but Ryder’s mistress stepped out of it. I tried to ignore her existence thinking maybe she would ignore mine as well, but I should have known better.
She jogged toward me with something I had never seen, “a smile on her face”
“Look how stunning you look wearing a smile. You should do that more, I am not even joking” I told her, then tried to dodge but she stopped me again.
“I told you to be cautious, I warned you to not fall into my trap but you just did. Watch how I deal with you”
Before I could react to her words, she was moving toward the large entrance.
“Huh? Weird” I shrugged and moved in too before Ronan could catch up to me.